Egypt flights disrupted as curfew alters

Travel to Egypt was further disrupted at the weekend as one BMI flight heading to Cairo was forced to turn round and return home.

BMI flight BD771 had to return to Heathrow on Saturday after three hours in the air after the Egyptian authorities changed curfew times.

Flight BD722, due to depart Saturday evening, was then cancelled.

All BMI flights between Heathrow and Cairo on Sunday were also cancelled. Passengers were offered the opportunity to rebook.

British Airways has given customers due to travel to Cairo today the chance to cancel or defer travel but it is still operating flights into the Egyptian capital.

Schedules have changed, however, to suit the city’s newly-imposed curfews. The airline also laid on a special flight over the weekend to return customers home early.

Holidaymakers who do still want to travel to Cairo, however, will not get to see the country’s most famous tourist attraction. The Pyramids at Giza have been closed off by the army.

Most UK tourists travelling to Egypt, however, take their holidays in Red Sea resorts like Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada, hundreds of miles away from the unrest in the capital. Operators have stressed that travel to these areas is safe.

Most excursions to the capital, however, have been cancelled.

At the weekend, the Foreign Office issued a warning that travellers should desist from all but essential travel to Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria and Suez.